Super featherweight contender Diego Magdaleno (22-0, 8 KOs) continued to improve against a dangerous opponent who took the fight on three days’ notice. Magdaleno became the first man to stop late replacement Fernando Beltran Jr. (36-8-1, 20 KOs), the former two-time junior featherweight championship contender.
Magdaleno established the size and hand-speed advantages early on and threw punches in combination, often keeping Beltran out of distance and on the defensive. Beltran was hesitant to throw his left hand early in the fight, and when he did Magadaleno countered with a short right hook.
The fourth round provided some great action to bring the fans in Tucson out of their seats. Beltran came out and dropped Magdaleno with a straight left. Magdaleno appeared to be stable when the action resumed and he hurt Beltran with a left hand followed by a right of his own, backing Beltran up to the ropes. Beltran answered with a short right hook that momentarily buckled Magdaleno. Beltran was unable to capitalize, and Magdaleno battled back and dominated the rest of the round.
Magdaleno picked up where he left off to begin the fifth, landing the cleaner, harder punches and keeping Beltran at a distance. He was warned for a low blow late in the round, but came back to land three hard shots to the body in the closing seconds.
In the sixth round Magdaleno started throwing an overhand left behind his right jab and hurt Beltran in the middle of the round. Despite his dominance, Magdaleno was unable to put away the durable Beltran. The end came with under a minute to go in the seventh, after Magdaleno continued to batter Beltran with overhand lefts, trapping him against the ropes and scoring a knockdown while Beltran tried desperately to hold on. After the action resumed, Magdaleno swarmed Beltran, hitting him with a barrage of unanswered punches and forcing Beltran’s corner to throw in the towel. The end came at the 2:28 mark of Round 7.
Magdaleno remains undefeated and looks to a possible title shot, while Beltran has now lost five of his last six and faces being labeled an “opponent.”
On the televised undercard, Cuban welterweight and Olympic medalist Yordenis Ugas (11-1, 5 KOs) was upset by Johnny Garcia (12-0, 8 KOs) of Holland, Mich. Garcia was the more aggressive fighter in the first round, but Ugas opened up in the second when he realized Garcia’s punches were lacking in any real power. Ugas’ work rate picked up slightly while Garcia’s waned, but Garcia stayed the course, cracking away at the Cuban’s tight guard.
Garcia stayed aggressive, but he began to tire in the middle rounds. Ugas started teeing off on Garcia, who began to get wide with his punches. A chopping right hand dropped an off-balance Garcia inside of one minute in the fifth, but Garcia recovered and made it out of the last thirty seconds.
Garcia stayed on top of Ugas, making things uncomfortable in the ring throughout the end. Ugas’ punches were the more telling blows, but Garcia’s workrate won the fight for two of the judges, and the fight was scored 76-75, 76-75, and 75-76.
